Domestic Disputes:
Pakistani Internal Security

C. Christine Fair and Peter Chalk

In the two and a half years following 9/11, Pakistan has emerged as an indispensable player in Washington's "global war on terrorism." Without comprehensive and effectual cooperation from Islamabad, it is impossible for the Bush administration to seriously degrade the operational capabilities of al Qaeda and affiliated Taliban remnants. Further, a stable and operative government accompanied by a revitalized civil society is essential to ensure durable success in the international effort to rehabilitate Afghanistan. While Pakistan has initially responded positively to U.S. requests to cooperate in the war on terror, by almost every measure the country's ability to sustain effective cooperation over the long term remains in question. Not only is Pakistan's internal law and order structure deficient and largely inutile, it is also riddled with corruption, a lack of cross-agency interoperability, and insufficient technical support and resources.
This essay focuses on Pakistan's internal security environment and exposits some of the crucial concerns that are confounding efforts to fortify the country's overall intelligence and law enforcement infrastructure. Current domestic arrangements are likely to remain inadequate and ineffective without extensive external support and concomitant monitoring from outside sovereign actors, such as the United States. Unlike madrassah reform, which has received wide attention in various venues, Pakistan's internal security remain neglected by the international community. Yet, as we argue here, there are several reasons why this matter requires the attention of the United States and others.

C. Christine Fair is a South Asia Analyst and Program Officer at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

Peter Chalk is Political Scientist with the International Security and Defense Policy Sector at the RAND Corporation.